Fluid coupling



Feb. 24, 1948. zElDLER' 2,436,412

' mun COUPLING Original Filed April 5, 1941' Patented Feb. 24, 1948 FLmncoUPLING Reinhold c. Zeidler, Detroit, Mich., asslgnor to Borg-Warner Corporation, Chicago, 111., a corporation of Illinois Original application April 5, 1941, Serial No.

1945, Serial No. 590,349

387,019. Divided and this application April 26,

7 Claims. (Cl. 103-115) This invention relates to hydraulic couplings of the vaned type. It has specific reference to mounting means for the vanes of this type of coupling, and provision being madefor permitting a flexing of the vanes. I

The present application is a division of the application of Reinhold C. Zeidler, Serial No. 387,019, filed April 5, 1941, for a "Fluid coupling," which matured in Patent No. 2,378,353, dated June 12, 1945.

The principal object of this. invention is to provide an improved fluid coupling which is lighter and less expensive to make, and which inherently effects a mechanical shock absorbing function to eliminate vibration and shocks during 10w slip conditions.

A specific object of this invention is to provide a fluid coupling wherein the vane-s are free of the housing defining the hydraulic circuit so as to be able to move relatively thereto in such region.

Another object of this invention is to provide Fig. 4 is a fragmentary section through a vaneand mounting washer taken along the plane of line t-4 on Fig. 2.

Referring now to a detailed description of the second stamping l3 having the form shown in a coupling having flexible vanes that are effectively mounted on hub members, and also to provide means to insure against the vanes moving rotationally with respect to their mounting from the flexing of the vanes.

Also another object of this invention is to provide mounting devices for the vanes that comprise simple metal stampings with which the vanes are quickly assembled and drivingly connected with the rotatable hub members of the coupling.

These and other objects and features of this invention will become apparent from the following description when taken together with the accompanying drawings having a more or less schematic character, in which:

Fig. 1 is a fragmentary side elevation partly in'section of a fluid coupling embodying this invention;

Fig. 2 is a front elevation of the arrangement shown in Fig. 1, the view taken along the plane of line 2-2 on Fig. 1, parts being broken away for clearness;

Fig. 3 is a rear elevation of an edge of a vane; and

Fig. 1 is welded to stamping i2 at i l to form a fluid-tight housing for the fluid coupling. Said housing defines a substantially torodial container.

A driven shaft 15 extends into the housing formed by stampings I 2i3, and supports a hub It at the forward or inner end thereof, said hub being splined to the shaft so as to form a driving connection with the latter. Hub i6 is in turn supported from casting II by means of a bearing ii. The outer periphery of the hub has a flange member 56 formed with a shoulder 51 which centers a pair of diverging disks or washers 58- and 59, as well as an attaching sector 60 of a vane 6i. A rivet 62 secures all threeoi these elements to hub member or flange 56.

The vane 68 to be used with the above supporting means is formed with an integral mar ginal flange 63 extending preferably less than half its curved edge. Thisflange serves to stiffen the inner portion of the vane sothat its outer region beyond broken line x:r is flexible. The flange also guides the fluid around that portion of its circuit. The disk or washer 59 and the inward portion of the flange 63 are preferably .eounterparts and conform in shape, as seen in Fig. 1 so that the washer'overlies the adjacent portion of the flange and has a surface contact therewith of substantial area.

At its inner straight edge, vane 6! is provided with'tabs 65 which are received in slots 65 in the.

7 tab 64.

tensile strength butt-welded at its ends toiorm a hoop of definite diameter. In assembling the coupling, the hoop is pressed into a circular groove in a fixture into which the vanes are subsequently assembled while the riveting or welding is being done at the inner ends. The vane assembly is then forced out of the fixture to allow the hoop to contract thereby creating a slight radially inward preload on all of the vanes. w

The part of disk or washer 58 extending into the hydraulic circuit may serve as abaflie to prevent the formation of shallow high velocity vortex circuits during high slip periods. The unsupported and unattached radially outer region of the vane permits a certain amount of flexing to occur in the vanes 6|. No'other support is provided for the vane and particularly no semitoroidal shell is attached to the vanes as is customary in previous designs.

The driving vanes 22 may be duplicates of driven vanes GI and may be similarly held in the diverging disks or washers 23, 24, secured by bolts 25 on the shouldered portion 28 of a hub member 21, the latter being of annular form and secured to the radially inner portion of the housing stamping l3 by said bolts 25. This annular hub member 21 serves asan abutment member for a bellows type seal 30 which is inserted between raid hub 21 and the other hub i6.

By reason of the arrangement herein before defined the driving and driven members of the hydraulic torque transmitting device each has a 4 is the preferred embodiment of the invention disclosed herein and that the scope of the invention is not to be limited thereto but is to be determined by the appended claims.

I claim:

1, In a hydraulic torque transmitting device a rotary element having a plurality of vanes drivingly associated therewith; a radial flange on said rotary element; a hub member supporting said vanes, said hub member comprising divergin washers drivingly connected to said flange, at least one ofsaid washers having slots; tabs on said vanes cooperating with said slots to form the driving connection between said vanes and rotary element; and lateral flanges on said vanes anchored to the other of said washers, said lateral flanges serving to stiffen the radially inner regions of saidvanes and also to guide the fluid around the proximate portion of itsv circuit.

2. In a hydraulic torque transmitting device a housing of toroidal section; a rotary element in said housing having a plurality of vanes drivingly associated therewith; a radial flange on said rotary element; a hub member f or supporting said vanes, said hub member comprising diverging washers i drivingly connected to said flange, at least'one of said washers being slotted, and said vanes having portions received between said washers and cooperating with the slots to effect the driving other of said washers and anchored thereto.

hub assembly comprising the respective hubs and the outwardly diverging washers which receive and mount the inner portions of the driving. and

.riven vanes, and said vanes are attached to said washers by the speciallydesigned means herein before described in detail.

The vanes 22 have the lateral stiflening flanges 3| at their inner portions andthere are tabs 32 that are received in slots 33 in disk or washer 23. The other disk or washer 24 is sheared through the vanes 22 at 34 in the same manner as before described with respect to the vanes 6|, and the wire loop 35 is slipped into notches 36 near the center of the toroidal circuits to resist radial centrifugal force on said vanes. The flexing of these vanes 22 takes place in theouter regions of said vanes beyond the plane y-y as in the vanes 8|.

The construction hereinbefore described possesses a number of advantages which improve both the efiiciency and the operating characteristics of the coupling. By making both the driving and driven vanes entirely free of the housing in the working circuit and permitting the vanes to flex Outside the working circuit, a vibration I dampening efiect is secured. This efiect is availtically eliminates axial thrust 'onthe driven hub and simplifies the bearing construction. Furthermore, the absence of a shell eliminates the problem of returning to the circuit 'flu'id, which may have escaped to the outside of the shell, into the reservoir commonly used for this purpose.

It IS understood that the foregoing description 75 hub member for supporting said vanes, said hub 3. A hydraulic torque transmitting device as defined in claim 2 wherein the overlying portions .of the vane flange and Washer areoi counterpart shape in cross-section to effect a surface contact therebetween of substantial area.

4. In a hydraulic torque transmitting device a housing of toroidal section; a rotary element in said housing having a plurality of vanes drivingly associated therewith; a radial flange on said rotary element; a hub member for supporting said vanes, said hub member comprising diverging washers drivingly connected to said flange, at least one of said washers being slotted, and said vanes having portions received between said washers, tabs on one of the margins of said vanes entered in the slots, and lateral flanges on other The " washer being sheared margins of said vanes, said flanges overlying the other of-said washers and anchored thereto, said tabs and flanges effecting the driving connection between said rotary element and said vanes.

5. In a hydraulic torque transmitting device a housing of toroidal section; a rotary element in said housing having a plurality of vanes drivingly associated therewith; a radial flange on said 1'0.

tary element; a hub member for supporting said vanes, said hub member comprising diverging washers drivingly connected to said flange, at least one of said washers being slotted, and said vanes having portions received between said washers and cooperating with the slots to efl'ect the driving connection between the vanes and rotary element; and laterally disposed marginal flanges on' said vanes cooperating with the other of said washers sewing to guide the fluid around the proximate portion of its circuit, the said other I through said flanges for anchoring. said vanes;

6. Ina hydraulic torque transmitting device having a housing of toroidal section, a rotary element in said housing having a plurality of vanes drivingly associated therewith, in combination with a radial flange on said rotary element, and a member comprising diverging washers drivingly connected to said flange, at least one of said washers being slotted, and said vanes having means cooperating with the slots to efiect the driving connection between the vanes and rotary element, said vanes having other means adapted to overlie the other of said washers and anchored thereto.

7. In a hydraulic torque transmitting device having a housing of toroidal section, a rotary element in said housing, a plurality of vanes drivingly associated with said rotary element, incombination with a radial flange on said rotary element, a hub member for supporting said vanes, said hub member comprising diverging washers drlvingly associated with said flange, at least one of said washers having slots, and said vanes having portions adapted to be received between said washers and adapted to cooperate with the slots to client the driving connection between the vanes and the rotary element, and radially disposed mara ginal flanges on said vanes cooperating with the other of said washers and adapted to serve as a guide for the fluid around the proximate portion of its circuit, the said other washer being sheared 5 through said flanges for anchoring said vanes.

REINHOID C. ZEIDLER.

10 file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 289,436 Moran Dec." 4, 1883 15 1,698,327 Doran Jan. 8, 1929 2,328,393 Neracher et al. Aug. 31, 1943 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 16,666 Great Britain Jul 28, 1904 

